Written Answers Wednesday 16 April 2008

Scottish Executive

Birds

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what the nature was of the legal advice provided by Scottish Natural Heritage in respect of the sparrowhawk trapping and relocation project established following the announcement by the Minister for Environment on 16 November 2007.

Michael Russell: Scottish Natural Heritage provides ecological advice to Scottish ministers. Scottish ministers receive legal advice from the Scottish Government legal directorate.

Birds

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what the findings have been of the most recent scientific research presented to Scottish ministers on sparrowhawk trapping and relocation and by whom such research was carried out.

Michael Russell: Scottish ministers are not aware of any scientific research findings on sparrowhawk trapping and relocation.

Cancer

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many women died from cervical cancer in Scotland in each year since 1990.

Nicola Sturgeon: Data on the number of deaths from cervical cancer is available by year on the information services division website at: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/files/cancer_cervix_mort_m.xls .

  The latest year for which mortality data are available is 2006.

Children and Young People

David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to review the work carried out by family contact centres.

Adam Ingram: The Minister for Children and Early Years will be meeting with Relationships Scotland, the largest provider of child contact centres in Scotland, in the near future to discuss child contact centres in greater detail. These discussions will help inform his thinking around a review.

Children and Young People

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action they propose to take in response to The Age of Leaving Care in Scotland report by the Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland.

Adam Ingram: The Scottish Government strongly welcomes the report by Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People. The important issues identified therein are consistent with the key themes identified and work being taken forward through Looked After Children and Young People: We Can and Must Do Better . We are considering the recommendations contained within the children’s commissioner’s report and will continue to work with local authorities to ensure that the transition from being in care to independent living is a positive experience for young people.

Class Sizes

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional expenditure will be required to meet the capital costs of implementing its P1 to P3 class-size reduction policy, broken down by local authority.

Maureen Watt: We have made clear that the pace and scale of changes which will be needed to meet our commitment to reducing P1 to P3 class sizes is subject to further discussion with COSLA. As was the case with previous class size changes, the full implications for physical accommodation will only become clearer as these discussions progress and as individual local authorities assess the situation at each school at which accommodation may be a factor.

  We allocated £40 million extra in the last financial year for capital expenditure linked to class size reduction. Under the terms of the Concordat signed with COSLA on 14 November 2007, almost £3 billion of capital resources has been made available to authorities over three years including an extra £115 million in this, the first year, to secure investment in schools and other infrastructure.

Culture

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which music industry events will be supported by the EventScotland programme from 2008 to 2014.

Jim Mather: EventScotland works to secure and support major cultural and sport events in Scotland and provides funding through its international and regional programmes.

  Music industry events with confirmed support through EventScotland’s regional programme for 2008 are:

  Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, Callandar Jazz and Blues Festival, Creetown Country Music Festival, Dundee Jazz Festival, East Neuk Festival in Fife, Ullapool’s Loopallu, Nairn International Jazz Festival, Northern Nashville Caithness Country Music Festival, Schubertiad in Perth, Sound in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Orkney’s St Magnus Festival, and the World Ceilidh in Dumfries and Galloway.

  The international programme will support Piping Live! in 2008 and 2009, and the World Pipe Band Championships in 2010, 2011 and 2012. In addition to these, EventScotland is in discussion with a number of event owners and organisers about supporting other music industry events as part of the international programme and further information will be made available as negotiations are concluded.

  For 2009 EventScotland is developing the programme of events for the Homecoming Scotland celebrations and has received a number of funding applications from music industry event organisers. Information about which events will be included in the programme will be available when it is launched at the end of May.

Culture

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of EventScotland support will be provided (a) to the contemporary music industry and (b) for sporting events from 2008 to 2014.

Jim Mather: EventScotland does not categorise its funding in this way. Events are supported either through the international programme, if they attract visitors from outside Scotland or generate international media profile for the country, or through the regional programme if they help to drive domestic tourism. All events are funded according to their fit with the criteria set out in these programmes.

Culture

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether EventScotland will follow the success of the MTV Europe Music Awards in Edinburgh in 2003 with further support for major contemporary music industry events.

Jim Mather: EventScotland works to bring major events to Scotland that boost the economy and/or that raise Scotland’s profile around the world. The MTV Europe Music Awards delivered against both of these objectives and EventScotland is working to follow up on this success.

Deaf and Hearing Impaired People

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many interpreters for deaf and partially hearing people there were, broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) year from 1999 to date.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not hold centrally the information requested.

  I am however able to provide information on the number of British Sign Language interpreters registered with the Scottish Association of Sign Language Interpreters (SASLI), by region, as at 31 December 2007

  

 Area
 Interpreters
 Trainees


 Aberdeen and Moray
 Registered: 4
 Trainee: 1


 Tayside
 Registered: 3
 


 Fife
 Registered: 3
 


 Edinburgh
 Registered: 9
 Trainee: 2


 Highland
 Registered: 6
 


 Glasgow
 Registered: 18
 Trainee: 6


 Ayrshire
 Registered: 5
 Trainee: 1


 Dumfries and Galloway
 Registered: 1
 


 Central Scotland
 Registered: 4
 


 Outwith Scotland
 Registered: 2
 


 Total
 Registered: 55
 Trainee: 10



  Note: Registered Interpreters are interpreters who have been assessed and registered by the association as fit to practice in all domains.

  Associate Interpreters are interpreters who have been granted membership of the association and are undertaking the post registration associates program leading to full registration.

Deaf and Hearing Impaired People

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many communications support posts for deaf and partially hearing people there were, broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) year from 1999 to date.

Shona Robison: The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Dentistry

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the financial impact on rural and island NHS boards of the need for NHS dental practices to comply with the recommendations of the Glennie report on decontamination; what the outcome was of any such assessment, and what additional funding it plans to provide to assist boards to pay for the work required to comply with the report’s recommendations.

Shona Robison: The Glennie Report, which was commissioned by the previous administration, highlighted a number of issues facing the dental profession as a whole.

  NHS boards are responsible for the planning and provision of NHS services and are funded to do so. Good decontamination practice is a key consideration in the delivery of safe dental care. The Scottish Government provides financial support for NHS dental Services including those provided by independent dental contractors providing service to the NHS.

Dentistry

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the financial impact on private dental practices in rural and island areas of the need for dental practices to comply with the recommendations of the Glennie report on decontamination; what the outcomes were of any such assessment, and what additional funding it plans to provide to assist rural and island private dental practices to pay for the work required to comply with the report’s recommendations.

Shona Robison: The Glennie Report, which was commissioned by the previous administration, highlighted a number of issues facing the dental profession as a whole.

  Wholly private dental practices must operate safely in order to protect the interests of patients, dentists and their staff. Good decontamination practice is a key consideration in the delivery of safe dental care. However, the responsibility for the management of a private dental practice is a matter for the practitioner concerned. The Scottish Government provides financial support for NHS dental services including those provided by independent dental contractors providing services to the NHS.

Dentistry

Bashir Ahmad (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to encourage more students to study dentistry.

Shona Robison: We are developing dental outreach training centres throughout Scotland, including Aberdeen, Inverness and Dumfries and Galloway. In addition, we are increasing the number of dental students in training and opening a third dental school for Scotland in Aberdeen which will further increase the number of dental students. Such students are also able to apply for a dental bursary of £4,000 per year subject to a commitment to work in NHS dentistry in Scotland for up to five years following graduation.

Disability Discrimination Act 1995

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that NHS boards comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

Nicola Sturgeon: Under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), it is the responsibility of all NHS boards to support their staff to identify, understand and remove the barriers facing disabled people when they use NHS services. In recognition of the relationship between the Executive’s strategic role and NHS boards’ role in the delivery of services, significant work has been done centrally to support boards and ensure they meet their DDA requirements.

  The NHS (Scotland) Reform Act 2004 created a specific duty on NHS boards to promote equality and this commitment to promoting equality and tackling disability discrimination has been reaffirmed explicitly in the Better Health Better Care action plan.

  Good practice guidance aimed at supporting NHS boards to understand and meet their responsibilities under Part 3 of the DDA and developed by the Fair for All – Disability team is available at:

  http://www.healthscotland.com/uploads/documents/4683-Achieving%20Fair%20Access%20guidance.pdf.

  Fair for All - Disability have undertaken a review of progress of work to achieve disability equality by all boards, based on Disability Equality Schemes published by each board and have made recommendations for progress as well as sharing good practice. The advice and support previously provided by the Fair for All - Disability team is now provided through an integrated Equalities and Planning Directorate established within NHS Health Scotland.

  Improved outcomes for disabled people as a result of these actions will be measured by: the Scottish Health Council’s annual assessment of the patient focus public involvement responsibilities of boards; a national programme of patient experience surveys, disaggregated by disability and, monitoring NHS boards revised Disability Equality Schemes.

Education

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many school leavers in 2006-07 who did not go into education, employment or training had (a) physical and (b) learning disabilities.

Maureen Watt: The available information relates to school leavers with additional support needs and is presented in the following table.

  Number of School Leavers with Additional Support Needs Not Going into Education, Employment or Training, 2006-07

  

 Category of Additional Support Need
 Number


 Hearing Impairment
 15


 Visual Impairment
 12


 Physical or Motor Impairment
 31


 Language or Speech Disorder
 13


 Autistic Spectrum Disorder
 27


 Social Emotional and Behavioural Difficulty
 207


 Specific Learning Disabilities
 150


 Learning Disability
 49


 Moderate Learning Difficulty
 95


 Complex or Multiple Impairments
 9


 Other
 87



  Notes:

  1. Leavers from publicly funded secondaries only.

  2. Leavers may have more than one additional support need.

Education

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of school leavers in 2006-07 who did not go into education, employment or training had (a) physical and (b) learning disabilities.

Maureen Watt: The available information relates to school leavers with additional support needs and is presented in the following table.

  Per Cent of School Leavers not in Education, Employment or Training with Additional Support Needs, 2006-07

  

 Category of Additional Support Need
 Per Cent


 Hearing Impairment
 0.19


 Visual Impairment
 0.15


 Physical or Motor Impairment
 0.40


 Language or Speech Disorder
 0.17


 Autistic Spectrum Disorder
 0.35


 Social Emotional and Behavioural Difficulty
 2.72


 Specific Learning Disabilities
 1.95


 Learning Disability
 0.63


 Moderate Learning Difficulty
 1.23


 Complex or Multiple Impairments
 0.12


 Other
 1.12



  Notes:

  1. Leavers from publicly funded secondary schools only.

  2. Leavers may have more than one additional support need.

Education

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many school leavers in 2006-07 who did not go into education, training or employment had (a) attended special schools and (b) received additional support for learning in mainstream secondary schools.

Maureen Watt: (a) There were 252 school leavers in 2006-07 who attended publicly funded (including grant-aided) special schools and did not go into employment, training or education.

  (b) There were 556 school leavers who received additional support for learning in publicly funded secondary schools in 2006-07 and did not go into employment, training or education.

Energy

Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to secure an increase in the carrying capacity of the undersea electricity cable from Carradale in Kintyre to Imachar in Arran.

Jim Mather: Management of the Transmission Network in this area is primarily a matter for Scottish and Southern Energy and National Grid. We understand that there is interest in increased generation opportunities in the area, although the current system only provides limited potential for exporting electricity. Scottish and Southern Energy are currently reviewing transmission solutions to try to release additional capacity on this network. The Scottish Government is in contact with Scottish and Southern Energy on this issue and will meet National Grid very shortly.

Environment

Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it provides to local authorities seeking to reduce levels of light pollution.

Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance exists to minimise light pollution from new developments.

Michael Russell: The Scottish Government published a guidance note in 2007 for all local authorities, planners and property developers entitled Controlling Light Pollution and Reducing Light Energy consumption . The note can be found at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/03/14164512/0.

  The government has also proposed to introduce new legislation to include light pollution within the Statutory Nuisance regime as part of the Public Health Bill, which is currently being considered by the Scottish Parliament. In addition, it is planned to issue associated guidance to help in the implementation of any new provisions by local authorities.

Environment

Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what levels of light pollution have been recorded in Scotland in each year for which records exist.

Michael Russell: The government neither collects nor collates such information.

Environmental Justice

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-9803 by Michael Russell on 29 February 2008, what steps it will take to support communities in the immediate vicinity of quarries who are affected by the impact of aggregates extraction.

Michael Russell: As I said in my previous answer, the government’s plan for spending on Sustainable Development and Climate Change includes a new Climate Challenge Fund, which will launch later this year. Through this Climate Challenge Fund, the government will support all communities across Scotland to take positive action to tackle climate change.

  This new fund provides a higher level of resources for community initiatives compared to the Aggregates Levy Community Environmental Renewal Scheme from 2002 to 2008.

  Over six years the Scottish Government supported 332 environmental projects in communities across Scotland in the vicinity of existing or disused quarries. Many of these projects had funding from additional sources.

European Funding

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce which individual projects will receive support under the first round of European Structural Funds.

Jim Mather: I announced the funding of projects to receive support in the first round of the Lowlands and Uplands Scotland 2007-13 European Structural Funds Programmes (ESEP) on 8 April 2008.

  Details of each individual project funded are available on the ESEP website:

  http://www.esep.co.uk/02-applications-announce.html.

  The First Minister announced the projects to be funded in the first round of the Highlands and Islands Convergence Programme for 2007-13 on 11 April 2008. Details of the individual projects will be available on the HIPP website http://www.hipp.org.uk/new/.

European Funding

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made and what discussions have taken place in respect of any reductions in the European Social Fund Priority 1 money available to Scotland.

Jim Mather: The decisions on both the share of European Structural Funds to come to Scotland from the European Regional Aid budget, and the allocation between Priorities within each Scottish 2007 to 2013 programme were taken before the election of the current Scottish Government.

  A number of stakeholders across a range of sectors and individual organisations have raised concerns about the level of the reduction – almost halving the funds available. Most of these concerns have been around the reduction in ESF Priority 1 which has the objective of helping people progress into employment.

  On 8 April 2008, I announced £158 million of funding for the first main round of Lowlands and Uplands Scotland ERDF and ESF programmes. In making the decision on the amount of funding to be made available at this stage of the programmes, the Programme Monitoring Committee and ministers took into account a number of ways to lessen the impact of the overall funding reduction on the ESF Priority 1 client group:

  1. The amount of Priority 1 funding going into individual projects has been front loaded. In LUPS that amounts to £21.6 million in this round, in addition to £10 million announced in 2007 for a Shadow Round for Priority 1 projects dealing with vulnerable client groups, and

  2. A further £42.1 million funding has been made available from ERDF Priority 3 and ESF Priority 1 for co-ordinated two year strategic plans from Community Planning Partnerships for employment and regeneration.

  More help was offered by the government to address wider concerns raised by the Third Sector in the Scottish Budget which allocated a £93.6 million transformational package for the Sector in order to support the development of an innovative, sustainable and inclusive third sector. The Third Sector Development Programme is £63.3 million over three years, and the Scottish Investment Fund is £30 million over three years.

European Funding

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many projects and programmes may be at risk as a result of any reductions in European Social Fund Priority 1 money available to Scotland.

Jim Mather: The reduction in European Social Fund money available to Scotland under the 2007 to 2013 Highland and Islands, and Lowlands and Uplands Scotland programmes was agreed prior to the election of the current Scottish Government.

  Mindful of this overall reduction in funds, we have taken a number of measures to reduce the risk to projects which help previously unemployed people into employment and achieve their full potential.

  The funding to be made available for the first main round of the Lowlands and Uplands Scotland programme was announced on 8 April 2008. Priority 1 ESF has been front loaded with £21.6 million being offered to individual projects, and an additional £42.1 million being offered to 11 Community Planning Partnerships for joint ESF Priority 1 and ERDF Priority 3 employability and regeneration plans.

External Relations

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the recommendation in the European and External Relations Committee’s 1st Report 2005 on its inquiry into the promotion of Scotland worldwide that ministers should endeavour to co-ordinate more trade and cultural missions when making ministerial visits overseas.

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many private sector businesspeople based in Scotland will accompany the First Minister on a trade mission for his meeting with the President of the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington DC during Scotland Week 2008.

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many private sector businesspeople based in Scotland will accompany the First Minister on a trade mission for his Tartan Day reception with the Friends of Scotland Congressional Caucus on Capitol Hill, Washington DC, during Scotland Week 2008.

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many private sector businesspeople based in Scotland will accompany the First Minister on a trade mission when he hosts the Scottish Development International/VisitScotland - Business First reception in New York, during Scotland Week 2008.

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many private sector businesspeople based in Scotland will accompany the First Minister on a trade mission when he participates in roundtable meetings for the life sciences and financial services industries in New York during Scotland Week 2008.

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many private sector businesspeople based in Scotland will accompany the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism on trade missions when he participates in business events in Washington, California and Texas during Scotland Week 2008.

Linda Fabiani: Scotland Week provides a significant opportunity to highlight Scotland as a dynamic market with great investment potential. The Scottish Government’s international framework is due to be published later this month and will highlight the potential for a more co-ordinated approach to trade and cultural missions. In the meantime, it is important to capitalise on the very significant opportunities that exist in North America by encouraging major US and Canadian companies to look to Scotland as their global partner of choice, and by supporting Scottish-based companies wishing to grow their business in North America.

  As part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to increased sustainable economic growth, the First Minister, the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, and I took every opportunity during Scotland Week to engage with businesses in nine locations across North America, promoting the investment and business opportunities that exist in Scotland. During the most ambitious programme of events ever undertaken by Scottish ministers, the First Minister, Mr Mather and I in private meetings, at receptions, in speeches and through the media, sought to engage with potential new investors, with existing investors in Scotland, and with Scottish companies already trading in the US and Canada. We estimate that over 50 private sector companies with commitments in North America were active during Scotland Week and ministers met with many more.

  In addition to their interactions with major Scottish companies like the Wood Group, HBoS, RBS America, and Standard Life, ministers supported a diverse range of smaller Scottish businesses. The First Minister met three Scottish companies, SI Associates (management consultants), ClinTec (life sciences) and Visionware (IT), who have signed up to take advantage of Scottish Development International’s incubator facilities in Boston and he congratulated two Scottish software companies, Integrated Environmental Solutions and Vamosa, who are now ready to graduate from the incubator and will be opening offices in Boston. The First Minister and I also met at the Inter-American Development Bank members of a 21 strong Scottish education and trade mission visiting Washington to explore trade opportunities.

Flood Prevention

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has undertaken a systematic review of local authorities’ preparedness in the event of major flood events in their areas.

Kenny MacAskill: After the flooding in parts of England during the summer of 2007, the Minister for Environment wrote out to each of the eight regional strategic co-ordinating groups (SCG) asking for confirmation that they were adequately prepared to respond to similar events, should they occur in Scotland. All SCGs indicated they had assessed the flooding risk in their area, and had undertaken planning for such eventualities. In January 2008, a further self-evaluation was commissioned by the Scottish Government from SCGs in relation to their planning for a wider set of extreme weather events that might arise as a result of climate change, including coastal and inland flooding. Responses are currently being collated and evaluated by the Scottish Government. Further work is planned to enhance the measurement of preparedness for a range of emergencies.

Flood Prevention

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether central government co-ordinating groups will be established from the outset of any major flood emergency.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government has detailed corporate emergency response arrangements in place and operates a proportionate response to major incidents affecting Scotland. In the event of a major widespread flooding event arising in Scotland, the Scottish Government emergency room would be activated to liaise with local responders, assess the impact and co-ordinate the corresponding activity of government. The Scottish Government’s emergency committee structures, which include official and ministerial groups, would be activated as required to: provide strategic direction and national overview for the activity of government, and to inform and support the local response by ensuring that any issues for government are considered and actioned promptly.

Flood Prevention

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for the Environment would chair any flood recovery co-ordinating team.

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth would chair any flood recovery co-ordinating team.

Kenny MacAskill: There are no standing arrangements for a flood recovery co-ordinating team, as the existing emergency committee structures are designed to be flexible and adaptable for a range of emergencies. Any decision to set up a such a team would depend on the extent and range of impact of any flooding incident, the expectations and wishes of Scottish ministers and the actual activity required of Scottish Government. This decision would be taken by the Cabinet sub-committee (SEER), on which both the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth and the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment sit. This ministerial group would advise, depending on the nature of the impact, which minister would be best placed to chair these arrangements.

Flood Prevention

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the last emergency flood planning training and exercise was held (a) centrally and (b) in each local authority area.

Kenny MacAskill: Responsibility for local emergency preparedness is a matter for those responders specified as having a legal duty to prepare for emergencies under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. Accordingly, whilst the Scottish Government provides support to responders in developing exercises, there is no centralised record of local civil contingencies exercises.

  At a national level, the Scottish Government oversees a national programme of exercises to address a range of risks. A Scottish-level extreme weather exercise is planned for 2009.

Flood Prevention

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on flood management and defence in each year from 1999 and how much capital was invested in preventive measures in each of those years.

Michael Russell: The total capital grant support for flood prevention schemes under the 1961 Act in each year from 1999 can be found in the following table:

  Flood Prevention Grants (from 1999-2000)

  

 Year
 Total Capital Grant Paid (£)


 1999-2000
 4,574,033


 2000-01
 3,163,352


 2001-02
 4,157,988


 2002-03
 5,119,070


 2003-04
 5,623,199


 2004-05
 7,805,970


 2005-06
 4,681,236


 2006-07
 9,038,698


 2007-08
 17,949,137

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive under what circumstances people should request visits from GPs.

Nicola Sturgeon: There are no specific circumstances in which a patient should request a visit from a GP. A patient can request a visit if they feel they are unable to attend the practice in person.

  A GP is required to make a visit to a patient where in the clinical judgement of the GP the medical condition of the patient warrants attendance at the patient’s home address or it would be inappropriate for the patient to attend the practice premises.

Health

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of clostridium difficile were reported in (a) NHS Tayside and (b) Scotland in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table sets out the information requested:

  Total Number of Cases of Clostridium difficile Associated Disease: (CDAD) Reported

  

 
January-March 2007
April-June 2007
July-September 2007
October-December 2007


 NHS Tayside
 172
 169
 131
 135


 Scotland
 1,775
 1,588
 1,459
 1,608



  Health Protection Scotland publish quarterly reports on the Surveillance of CDAD in Scotland. The latest report, covering the period October 2007 to December 2007 is available at: http://www.hps.scot..nhs.uk/ewr/article.aspx.

Health

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of clostridium difficile there were per 1,000 acute occupied bed days in people aged 65 and over in (a) NHS Tayside and (b) Scotland in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table sets out the information requested:

  Rates of CDAD per 1,000 Acute Occupied Bed Days

  

 
January-March 2007
April-June 2007
July-September 2007
October-December 2007


 NHS Tayside
 2.60
 2.61
 1.82
 1.80


 Scotland (overall rate)*
 2.38
 2.51
 1.81
 1.95



  Note: The overall rate for Scotland is calculated as: rate = (total number of cases x 1000) / total number of acute occupied bed days.

Health

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the quarterly rates have been of clostridium difficile per 1,000 total occupied bed days for those aged 65 and over in (a) NHS Tayside and (b) Scotland in each of the last four available quarters.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table sets out the information requested:

  Rates of CDAD per 1,000 Total Occupied Bed Days

  

 
January-March 2007
April-June 2007
July-September 2007
October-December 2007


 NHS Tayside
 1.76
 1.75
 1.27
 1.3


 Scotland (overall rate)*
 1.47
 1.47
 1.16
 1.26



  Note: The overall rate for Scotland is calculated as:rate = (total number of cases x 1000) / total number of acute and non-acute occupied bed days.

Higher Education

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether funding for the UHI Millennium Institute will be provided to the same level and over the same timescale as budgeted for by the previous administration to be provided through Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC) is responsible for funding UHI Millennium Institute (UHIMI) alongside Scotland’s other higher education institutions and further education colleges. In 2008-09 UHIMI’s main teaching and research funding will increase by 6.1% from £25.9 million to £27.5 million.

  The SFC’s allocation to UHIMI is made direct to the institution, and not through Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

  In 2007, a one-off additional capital funding allocation of £250,000 in 2006-07 and £250,000 in 2007-08 was however made to Highlands and Islands Enterprise, specifically to support the development of UHIMI facilities at the North Highland College campus in Dornoch.

Higher Education

Bashir Ahmad (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many overseas students are studying at universities in Glasgow.

Fiona Hyslop: The following table shows the number of overseas students studying at higher education institutions (HEIs) in Glasgow for academic year 2006-07. Students enrolled at a Glasgow-based HEIs but studying overseas are shown separately.

  

 
 Total
 At Least Some Study in the UK
 Study Wholly Outside UK


 Total
 9,850
 8,355
 1,495


 The University of Strathclyde
 4,400
 2,905
 1,495


 The University of Glasgow
 3,200
 3,200
 0


 Glasgow Caledonian University
 1,740
 1,740
 0


 Glasgow School of Art
 375
 375
 0


 The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
 135
 135
 0



  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)

  Note: All figures are rounded to the nearest five. Numbers may not sum to total due to rounding.

Higher Education

Bashir Ahmad (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many overseas students studying at Scottish universities and colleges come from (a) India, (b) Pakistan, (c) China and (d) Bangladesh.

Fiona Hyslop: The following table shows the number of students from India, Pakistan, China (including, Hong Kong and Macao) and Bangladesh studying at Scottish higher education institutions (HEIs) and Scottish colleges. Students enrolled at a Scottish HEIs but studying overseas are shown separately. Figures shown are for academic year 2006-07.

  

 
 Total
 HEIs
 Colleges


 At Least Some Study in the UK
 Study Wholly Outside UK
 All Students at Colleges


 Total
 15,985
 9,520
 4,710
 1,755


 India
 5,190
 3,145
 615
 1,430


 Pakistan
 955
 710
 115
 130


 China (Inc. Hong Kong and Macao)
 9,520
 5,495
 3,845
 185


 Bangladesh
 320
 170
 135
 15



  Sources: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Sources: Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

  Note: All figures are rounded to the nearest five. Numbers may not sum to total due to rounding.

Higher Education

Bashir Ahmad (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many overseas students studying at Scottish universities and colleges come from within the EU, broken down by country.

Fiona Hyslop: The following table shows the number of overseas students studying at Scottish higher education institutions (HEIs) and Scottish colleges who come from EU countries. Students enrolled at a Scottish HEIs but studying overseas are shown separately. Figures shown are for academic year 2006-07.

  

 
 Total
 HEIs
 Colleges


 At Least Some Study in the UK
 Study Wholly Outside UK
 All Students at Colleges


 Total
 16,915
 12,265
 1,505
 3,150


 Austria
 175
 145
 15
 10


 Belgium
 315
 240
 30
 50


 Cyprus
 215
 165
 45
 10


 Czech Republic
 230
 115
 5
 110


 Denmark
 385
 175
 130
 80


 Estonia
 40
 30
 0
 10


 Finland
 275
 225
 15
 35


 France
 1,920
 1,530
 60
 330


 Germany
 2,240
 1,775
 330
 135


 Gibraltar
 15
 15
 0
 0


 Greece
 1,895
 1,290
 470
 130


 Hungary
 120
 95
 10
 20


 Irish Republic
 3,265
 3,035
 95
 135


 Italy and the Holy See
 1,375
 435
 40
 900


 Latvia
 70
 55
 0
 15


 Lithuania
 100
 75
 5
 20


 Luxembourg
 155
 145
 10
 0


 Malta
 190
 115
 40
 30


 Netherlands
 435
 295
 95
 45


 Poland
 1,560
 1,145
 20
 395


 Portugal
 250
 200
 15
 40


 Slovakia
 100
 55
 0
 45


 Slovenia
 35
 20
 5
 10


 Spain
 1,095
 515
 30
 550


 Sweden
 465
 370
 50
 45



  Sources: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Sources: Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

  Note: All figures are rounded to the nearest five. Numbers may not sum to total due to rounding.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the rate was of MRSA bloodstream infections as a proportion of all staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections in the most recent year for which figures are available and what comparative information it has for (a) Norway, (b) Denmark, (c) Sweden and (d) Finland.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table sets out the information requested:

  Proportion of Antibiotic Non-Susceptible Staphylococcus Aureus Isolates

  

 Country
 


 Scotland
 42%


 Norway
<1%


 Denmark
 2%


 Sweden
<1%


 Finland
 3%



  Note: The figures in the table should be treated with some caution. For example, the surveillance systems used to compile the data for the Scandinavian countries above are derived from the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Scheme (EARSS). Health Protection Scotland, who collect the data for NHSScotland, uses the UK definition of 14 day episodes while EARSS records one episode per quarter.

  Consequently, the surveillance system used in Scotland may result in a patient who experiences more than one bacteraemic episode per quarter being counted for each episode, whereas the EARSS definition used by the other countries in the table means that each of their patients is counted only once during a quarter, even if they have more than one bacteraemic episode per quarter.

  It is encouraging that the most recent – but as yet unpublished - results for Scotland from HPS data for the last calendar year indicate that the Scotland figure for the proportion of antibiotic non-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus isolates has reduced considerably to 26%.

Housing

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many buildings fell within each of the categories in Schedule 1 to the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) (Scotland) Order 1997 as amended, in the most recent year for which figures are available.

John Swinney: In 2007, the reported number of dwellings that fell within the categories in Schedule 1 of the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) (Scotland) Order 1997 as amended was 106,394. A breakdown of this figure into the categories listed in the specified schedule is not held centrally.

Housing

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people lived in accommodation falling within paragraph 10 of Schedule 1 to the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) (Scotland) Order 1997 as amended, in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many students lived in accommodation not falling within paragraph 10 of Schedule 1 to the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) (Scotland) Order 1997 as amended, in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people lived in accommodation falling within paragraph 17 of Schedule 1 to the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) (Scotland) Order 1997 as amended, in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people lived in accommodation falling within paragraph 18 of Schedule 1 to the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) (Scotland) Order 1997 as amended, in the most recent year for which figures are available.

John Swinney: This information is not held centrally.

Local Government Finance

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what Aberdeen City Council’s budget estimate was for (a) 2002-03, (b) 2003-04, (c) 2004-05, (d) 2005-06 and (e) 2006-07.

John Swinney: The information requested is contained in the following table:

  Aberdeen City Council

  

£000
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07


 Budget Estimate
£316,154
£346,481
£375,626
£383,306
£399,705



  Note: *This information was taken from the annual provisional outturn/budget estimate forms as returned to the Scottish Government by Aberdeen City Council.

Local Government Finance

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what Aberdeen City Council’s provisional outturn expenditure was for (a) 2002-03, (b) 2003-04, (c) 2004-05, (d) 2005-06 and (e) 2006-07.

John Swinney: The information requested is contained in the following table:

  Aberdeen City Council

  

£000
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07


 Provisional Outturn
£320,905
£360,573
£382,123
£400,840
£409,701



  Note: *This information was taken from the annual provisional outturn/budget estimate forms as returned to the Scottish Government by Aberdeen City Council.

Local Government Finance

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what Aberdeen City Council’s final outturn expenditure was for (a) 2002-03, (b) 2003-04, (c) 2004-05, (d) 2005-06 and (e) 2006-07.

John Swinney: The information requested is contained in the following table:

  Aberdeen City Council

  

£000
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07


 Final Outturn
£321,998
£362,220
£388,531
£424,104
£432,219



  Note: *This information was taken from the annual local financial returns forms as returned to the Scottish Government by Aberdeen City Council.

Local Government Finance

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the differences between Aberdeen City Council’s budget estimate and its final outturn expenditure were in (a) 2002-03, (b) 2003-04, (c) 2004-05, (d) 2005-06 and (e) 2006-07.

John Swinney: The information requested is contained in the following table:

  Aberdeen City Council

  

£000
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07


 Budget Estimate
£316,154
£346,481
£375,626
£383,306
£399,705


 Final Outturn
£321,998
£362,220
£388,531
£424,104
£432,219


 Difference
 +£5,844
 +£15,739
 +£12,905
 +£40,798
 +£32,514



  Note: *The Budget Estimate information was taken from the annual provisional outturn/budget estimate (POBE) forms and the final outturn was taken from the local financial returns (LFR) forms as returned to the Scottish Government by Aberdeen City Council. It should be noted that the POBE forms are not wholly comparable with the LFR information.

Local Income Tax

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish residents working and being paid in Berwick-upon-Tweed would be liable to pay a nationally set local income tax.

John Swinney: Our consultation paper, A Fairer Local Tax for Scotland , invites comments on the Scottish Government’s proposed definition of "Scottish taxpayers". A Scottish taxpayer living in Scotland and working in England will no longer have to pay council tax, but will be liable to pay a local income tax instead.

Mental Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to match in Scotland the equivalent of the UK Government’s £173 million investment to specifically train and fund 3,500 therapists to undertake cognitive behaviour therapy, interpersonal therapy, dialectical behavioural therapy or similar talking therapies.

Nicola Sturgeon: Scotland has taken a joined-up approach to looking at the service development needs in relation to different populations and conditions. We have done this by building on the doing well by people with depression programme which ran from 2003 to 2006 with £4.5 million investment.

  Based on the evidence from this programme, work is being undertaken through NHS Education for Scotland (NES) around cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), family therapy and child psychotherapy as well as psychodynamic psychotherapy. NES has funded an additional 20 supervisors places and 0.5 WTE staff in each NHS board to support supervision and training. Fifty additional places have also been created to increase the capacity within the south east of Scotland and Tayside CBT programmes.

  At an individual NHS board level, work is underway to scope out the capacity of trained staff, and match this to demand, so that patients need can be met more effectively. Work has also been commissioned to establish an evidence base for psychological therapies in relation to different conditions and patient groups to assist NHS boards in their planning.

  A pilot of a telephone based CBT programme will commence shortly, alongside the roll out of an evidence-based CBT guided self help programme. In addition, work is on-going with the Royal College of General Practitioners to assess the management of patients with depression who also have a physical condition such as diabetes and or coronary heart disease. These initiative will cover all Scotland and will cost around £3.5 million.

Mental Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been trained in (a) cognitive behaviour therapy, (b) interpersonal therapy and (c) dialectical behavioural therapy in each of the last 10 years.

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) individuals and (b) full-time equivalents are undertaking (i) cognitive behaviour, (ii) interpersonal therapy or (iii) dialectical behavioural therapy training.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally.

Ministerial Correspondence

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the contents of the letter from HBOS to Highland Council dated 23 October 2007 and copied to the First Minister in which it was stated that without the relevant planning consents the bank would have "no option but to take action to mitigate its financial position.... likely to involve closure of the company and the complete resort operation, including the retail, no later than the middle of January 2008", what the reasons were for the First Minister taking no action other than sending a formal response three weeks later and before personally intervening on 6 December 2007 to assist the consortium involved in the development.

Michael Russell: The First Minister did not have sight of the correspondence and did not respond to it. A response was sent by an official in line with ministerial correspondence administration protocol.

Ministerial Correspondence

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are standard operating practices and procedures in place in the First Minister’s private office for dealing with correspondence from constituents and others and, if so, whether it will publish these practices and procedures.

Michael Russell: There are standard operating practices and procedures in place for management of the First Minister’s correspondence by his private office. These practices are in line with the Scottish Government ministerial correspondence administration guidance for staff and are unchanged from the previous administration. We have no current plans to publish this guidance.

Ministerial Correspondence

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether standard operating practices and procedures were applied by the First Minister’s (FM’s) private office in relation to the receipt of correspondence from Mr Donald Macdonald and an enclosure of correspondence between HBOS and Highland Council intimating the prospective closure of the Macdonald hotel company and the complete resort operation, received from the First Minister’s constituency office manager on 29 October 2007.

Michael Russell: Yes.

Ministerial Correspondence

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether correspondence from Mr Donald Macdonald and an enclosure of correspondence between HBOS and Highland Council intimating the prospective closure of the Macdonald hotel company and the complete resort operation, as received by email from the First Minister’s constituency office manager on 29 October 2007, was produced in hard copy and given to either the First Minister or his advisers by the First Minister’s private office.

Michael Russell: They were not.

Ministerial Correspondence

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether correspondence from Mr Donald Macdonald and an enclosure of correspondence between HBOS and Highland Council intimating the prospective closure of the Macdonald hotel company and the complete resort operation, as received by email from the First Minister’s constituency office manager on 29 October 2007, were placed in the ministerial correspondence system.

Michael Russell: They were.

Ministerial Correspondence

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether standard operating practices and procedures were applied by the First Minister’s private office in relation to correspondence from Mr Donald Macdonald’s company and enclosures of further correspondence between Mr Macdonald’s company and the planning authorities, the Cairngorms National Park Authority and Highland Council, concerning the Aviemore resort hotels planning application as received by email from the First Minister’s constituency office manager on 9 and 13 November 2007.

Michael Russell: Yes.

Ministerial Correspondence

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive who in the First Minister’s private office decided not to bring to the First Minister’s attention correspondence from Mr Donald Macdonald and an enclosure of correspondence between HBOS and Highland Council intimating the prospective closure of the Macdonald hotel company and the complete resort operation received from the First Minister’s constituency office manager and expressing the critical nature of his planning application and inviting the First Minister to visit an exhibition of the proposed development at the SNP conference; how that decision was reached, and when.

Michael Russell: The decision was taken by the Assistant Private Secretary with responsibility for correspondence on the basis of established protocol upon receipt of the correspondence to the First Minister’s private office.

Ministerial Correspondence

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive who in the First Minister’s (FM’s) private office decided not to bring to the FM’s attention correspondence from Mr Donald Macdonald and an enclosure of correspondence between HBOS and Highland Council stating that without the relevant planning consents the bank would have "no option but to take action to mitigate its financial position…. likely to involve closure of the company and the complete resort operation, including the retail, no later than the middle of January 2008", which was received from the FM’s constituency office manager; how that decision was reached, and when.

Michael Russell: The decision was taken by the Assistant Private Secretary with responsibility for correspondence on the basis of established protocol upon receipt of the correspondence to the First Minister’s private office.

NHS Finance

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-2733 by Nicola Sturgeon on 20 March 2008 ( Official Report c. 7208), how it will phase in the recommendations of the NHS Scotland resource allocation committee.

Nicola Sturgeon: To avoid turbulence, no board will receive less funding than it does at present and changes flowing from the NRAC recommendations will be phased in over a number of years. All boards will receive a standard increase in funds each year with those boards currently below NRAC formula target given additional funds to move them towards their NRAC target share of resources.

NHS Finance

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-2733 by Nicola Sturgeon on 20 March 2008 ( Official Report c. 7208), when it expects the recommendations of the NHS Scotland resource allocation committee to be fully implemented.

Nicola Sturgeon: To avoid turbulence, the changes in funding levels flowing from the NRAC recommendations will be phased in over a number of years. Implementation will start in 2009-10.

NHS Finance

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has announced all of the funding allocations for NHS boards for 2008-09, including ring-fenced money.

Nicola Sturgeon: No. The main 2008-09 baseline funding allocations for NHS boards were announced on 8 February 2008. Further funding will be allocated to NHS boards during 2008-09 in respect of specific developments as they are agreed.

  Overall spending plans for health in 2008-09 were set out in the Scottish Budget Spending Review 2007 which was announced on 14 November 2007. This will form the basis of the funding to be allocated in respect of these health care policy initiatives.

NHS Finance

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce any further ring-fenced funding for the NHS and the basis of such funding.

Nicola Sturgeon: Spending priorities for health in Scotland, covering the period 2008-09 to 2010-11, were announced in the Scottish Budget Spending Review 2007 on 14 November 2007. This will form the basis of the funding to be allocated in respect of these health funding initiatives. Any further funding for the NHS in Scotland beyond 2010-11 will be considered as part of the next Spending Review.

NHS Staff

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many whole-time equivalent infection control nurses were employed in (a) NHS Tayside and (b) Scotland in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table sets out the information requested:

  

 Year
 Whole-Time Equivalent Infection Control Nurses in Scotland
 Whole-Time Equivalent Infection Control Nurses in NHS Tayside


 2005
 132.6
 14


 2006
 139.8
 16.8


 2007
 140.8
 18



  Note: The census date for whole-time equivalent (WTE) infection control nurses recording within the year for each NHS board may differ and the WTE may be variable within a year within a board, although this should not vary substantially.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many whole-time equivalent hours have been worked by bank and agency staff in each NHS board in each of the last five years, broken down by discipline.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information on bank nurses by board and agency nurses by board and discipline employed in NHSScotland in the last five years is published on the ISD Scotland website at:

  www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=WFE13.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  For Agency Nurse data.

  Bank nurse data can be found at www.isdscotland.org/isd/5352.html#bank. Then follow the link to "Bank Nurse usage by time, NHS Board and Region".

National Health Service

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S3W-10128 and S3W-10129 by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 March 2008 and acknowledging that it "has made clear that NHS boards can use existing private sector capacity, but that we will not invest taxpayers’ money to fund new private sector capacity", how it will know whether that policy is being followed if it does not know what block contracts have been made between NHS boards and private sector providers in 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS boards are free to use the independent sector to meet short-term pressures or to address temporary reductions in capacity, to ensure that NHS patients are treated quickly.

  We do not expect any NHS board to require to enter into long-term (block) contracts with independent health care providers for the provision of secondary care services. The Health Delivery Directorate’s Access Support Team works very closely with NHS boards to ensure that the waiting times reductions set out in their Local Delivery Plans are met, including agreeing capacity plans, and will therefore be aware of any plans to make use of private sector capacity.

Planning

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which minister would have determined any appeal by the developers of Aviemore resort hotels against a decision by the Cairngorms National Park Authority to reject the master plan and any related planning applications.

Michael Russell: Where an application for planning permission has been made to the planning authority and has been refused, approved with conditions, or the authority has failed to make a decision on the application within the set period, the applicant may appeal to Scottish ministers. Appeals are handled by inquiry reporters in the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals.

  In most cases the inquiry reporter will prepare and issue the decision letter on behalf of Scottish ministers. In a small number of cases, however, the reporter will not issue the decision but will send a report with a recommendation to Scottish ministers. The decision on the appeal would be taken by the Planning Minister, Stewart Stevenson. If the Planning Minister were debarred from the decision-making process, e.g. by having a constituency interest or by having publicly expressed a view about the case, then another minister would make the decision on his behalf.

Planning

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons were for the First Minister circulating a briefing note, commissioned by the Minister for Community Safety and prepared by building consultants on behalf of the developer of Aviemore resort hotels, to the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change and the Minister for Environment.

Michael Russell: The briefing note was forwarded by the First Minister’s private office to the ministers and a number of officials for background information following the approaches made by MSPs to the First Minister and others.

Planning

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive why a briefing note, commissioned by the Minister for Community Safety and prepared by building consultants on behalf of the developer of Aviemore resort hotels, was sent to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) by the Scottish Government and who issued the instructions to do so.

Michael Russell: The briefing note was forwarded by Scottish Government officials to SEPA for background information and comment following the approaches made by MSPs to the First Minister and others.

Planning

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost has been so far of answering all parliamentary questions and freedom of information requests in relation to (a) the proposal from Trump International for a golf course at the Menie estate and (b) planning developments in Aviemore.

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hours have been spent by Scottish Government, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and other officials in answering all parliamentary questions and freedom of information requests in relation to (a) the proposal from Trump International for a golf course at the Menie estate and (b) planning developments in Aviemore.

Bruce Crawford: The core Scottish Government has since December 2007 dealt with, or is in the process of dealing with, more than 175 parliamentary questions and 130 freedom of information requests about issues relating to these planning proposals. Responding to these, along with the range of other enquiries received, has had significant resource implications for those staff tasked with responding to them. It is not possible to quantify precisely the amount of time or expenditure dedicated to these responses, as officials do not routinely record time spent on individual tasks.

  However, given the unprecedented level of political interest in our handling of enquiries on these two particular applications, I have asked the Scottish Government’s Planning Decisions Division to provide a retrospective estimate of costs. Officials in that Division estimate that, to date, they alone have spent well in excess of 2,000 staff hours – at a cost of over £50,000 – since December 2007 on matters such as the many parliamentary questions, freedom of information requests, the Local Government and Communities Committee’s inquiry and other associated tasks and communications relating to the Scottish Government’s involvement in these two proposed developments. This estimate does not include time spent on the normal processing of the planning application for the Menie Estate, called in for determination by the Scottish Government, or handling of routine correspondence relating to the application. The estimate does not include the significant contributions made by officials from various other areas of the Scottish Government.

Police

Bashir Ahmad (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many stop and searches British transport police have carried out in 2008.

Kenny MacAskill: This is a matter for the British Transport Police (BTP). I met BTP on 21 January 2008 to discuss their use of stop and search in Scotland and l look forward to a further meeting with them on 30 April 2008.

Pre-School Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will monitor whether local authorities have met its commitment to deliver access to a fully qualified nursery teacher for every nursery age child and on what basis the commitment will be deemed to have been met.

Adam Ingram: Progress towards delivering access to a teacher for every pre-school child is one of the commitments contained in the concordat signed with COSLA in November 2007. The concordat covers the period 2008-09 to 2010-11. Progress against each of the commitments in the concordat will be reported annually at the end of each financial year.

Pre-School Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its commitment to deliver access to a fully qualified nursery teacher for every nursery age child means that every such child should have access to a qualified nursery teacher every day that they are present in a pre-school setting.

Adam Ingram: Local authorities will have flexibility to deploy teachers on the basis of local circumstances. This may mean that in some circumstances, access to a teacher will not be on a daily basis, although there will be expectation of an increase in the level of quality teacher input overall.

Pre-School Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that local authorities using peripatetic nursery teachers in all pre-school establishments meet its commitment to deliver access to a fully qualified nursery teacher for every nursery age child.

Adam Ingram: Local circumstances will vary and it is essential that local authorities are given the flexibility to make decisions on how best to deploy teachers. It may be, therefore, that various models of teacher deployment, including peripatetic models, are part of the solution at local level.

Pre-School Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what minimum number of hours of teacher contact each nursery age child must have to satisfy the commitment to deliver access to a fully qualified nursery teacher for every such child.

Adam Ingram: Research evidence indicates that greater levels of teacher involvement lead to improved outcomes for children but there is little research on the minimum level of teacher involvement needed to do so. The Scottish Government is, therefore, focused on improving the overall level of teacher involvement rather than setting minimum thresholds.

Pre-School Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it defines "access" in its commitment to deliver access to a fully qualified nursery teacher for every nursery age child.

Adam Ingram: The Scottish Government expects that local authorities will deliver the commitment to ensure each pre-school child has access to a teacher using flexible models of teacher deployment, based on local needs and circumstances.

Prison Service

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following recent comments by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice that "our prisons are going to burst", what steps it has taken to ensure the security of HM Prison Shotts.

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following recent comments by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice that "our prisons are going to burst", what steps it has taken to ensure the safety of prison officers within HM Prison Shotts.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  There are no plans to increase prisoner numbers or to do anything which might impact adversely on the level of security there.

Prison Service

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following recent comments by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice that "our prisons are going to burst", what steps it has taken to ensure that there is sufficient capacity within the Scottish Prison Service.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The SPS is maximising the use of its accommodation to manage the high numbers. HM Prison Addiewell is planned to open in December 2008 and there will be new halls opened in HM Prison Edinburgh and HMYOI Polmont during 2009. Two further prisons at Bishopbriggs and in the north east of Scotland are in the planning stages. SPS is also utilising the home detention curfew regulations to allow carefully selected prisoners to spend part of their sentence in the community.

Prison Service

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following recent comments by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice that "our prisons are going to burst", what steps it has taken to ensure that prisoners are not kept in overcrowded conditions.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  On 9 April 2008, SPS was responsible for 8,054 prisoners (7,686 in custody and 368 on home detention curfew) with a design capacity of 6,625 places. Every effort is made to minimise the impact of these extra numbers by ensuring that the best accommodation is used first.

  I also refer the member to the answer to question S3W-11197 on 16 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Prison Service

Bashir Ahmad (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many ethnic minority prisoners there are.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information requested is given in table 7, on page 19, of the statistical bulletin Prison Statistics Scotland, 2006-07 published by the Scottish Executive in 2007 a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 43530).

  On 30 June 2006, there were 7,205 people held in Scottish prisons. Of these 7,000, or 97 per cent, were of white ethnic origin. The remaining 205 prisoners had a non-white ethnic origin recorded. The largest non-white ethnic group recorded was Pakistani, with 69 prisoners, slightly less than one percent of the total population.

Prison Service

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what views were expressed to it by the Scottish Prison Commission on the extension of Community Service Orders.

Kenny MacAskill: Appointments to the Scottish Prisons Commission had yet to be made when consultations took place in summer 2007 as part of the review of community penalties. It was not therefore possible for the Commission to offer views.

School Meals

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the anticipated cost is of the P1 to P3 free school meals pilot, broken down by local authority

Adam Ingram: The following table sets out the amount of funding we have already provided to each of the local authorities participating in the free school lunch trial.

  

 Local Authority
 


 East Ayrshire 
£561,000


 Fife 
£1,714,000


 Glasgow City
£1,309,000


 Scottish Borders 
£593,000


 West Dunbartonshire 
£455,000



  Note: We have agreed to cover any additional costs, if there are any, for the extension of the trial until the end of the current academic year.

School Meals

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to receive the results of the independent evaluation of the free school meals pilot for P1 to P3 pupils.

Adam Ingram: We expect to receive the final report on the findings of the independent evaluation of the free school lunch trial at the end of July 2008.

School Meals

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the cost of extending the entitlement to free school meals in 2009 to pupils from families in (a) Dundee and (b) Angus receiving maximum child or working families tax credit.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide (a) Dundee City Council and (b) Angus Council with additional funding in 2009 to pay for an extension of the entitlement to free school meals to pupils from families receiving maximum child or working families tax credit.

Adam Ingram: We will be providing local government with record levels of funding over the period covered by the spending review 2008-11. The vast majority of the funding will be provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities including the Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives and the full terms of the concordat. This includes extending entitlement to free school meals to all primary school and secondary school pupils whose parents or carers are in receipt of both maximum child tax credit and maximum working tax credit from August 2009, subject to the necessary legislation being passed by the Parliament.

Schools

Bashir Ahmad (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many school visits the army carried out in (a) 2003, (b) 2004, (c) 2005, (d) 2006 and (e) 2007, broken down by local authority.

Maureen Watt: The information requested is not collected by the Scottish Government.

Schools

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many faith schools there are in each education authority area in Scotland and what new faith schools are planned.

Maureen Watt: Information is published annually in the statistical bulletin Pupils in Scotland , on the numbers of denominational primary, secondary and special schools in each local authority area. Tables 6.3, 7.3 and 8.3 of the 2007 bulletin give the relevant information and can be accessed on the Scottish Government website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/02/25145216/123 .

  It is for local authorities to decide whether or not to establish a faith or denominational school. The Scottish Government does not have details of authorities’ plans.

Science

Michael Matheson (Falkirk West) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning’s announcement on 26 March 2008 of additional funding support for science projects, what the breakdown will be of the £615,000 allocated.

Fiona Hyslop: A breakdown of the funding awarded from the 2008-09 science engagement grant scheme is given in the table below:

  

 Organisation
 Project Title
 Award £


 British Association for the Advancement of Science
 BAAS National Science and Engineering Week
 21,000


 British Association for the Advancement of Science
 Revitalising Science
 10,000


 Dundee Science Centre
 Educational Energy Certificate
 27,800


 Earth Sciences Trust
 Outdoor Environmental Science for Communities
 15,000


 Edinburgh International Science Festival 
 EISF Workshops
 25,000


 Edinburgh International Science Festival 
 Wonderama
 30,000


 Edinburgh International Science Festival 
 Generation Science Touring Scotland
 30,000


 Engineering Development Trust
 GO4SET (GO for Science Engineering and Technology)
 5,000


 Engineering Development Trust
 Engineering Education Scheme
 2,500


 Fife Council
 Sci-dentity- A Creative Learning Festival
 15,000


 Glasgow Science Centre
 Environmental Chemistry Higher Level Workshop
 10,000


 Global Web Ltd
 Climate Change-Your Future
 30,000


 Going Nova
 Travelling Scholars Programme - 2008 Highland Festival 
 3,750


 Institute of Physics
 Lab in a Lorry
 20,000


 Moray College
 Moray Science Festival
 10,000


 Orkney Science Festival 
 Orkney Science Festival Schools and Community Programme
 4,641


 Our Dynamic Earth
 Closer2Nature Outreach Project
 30,000


 Our Dynamic Earth
 Stunning Summer Science
 30,000


 Our Dynamic Earth
 Earth Hero Toolkits
 22,246


 Robert Clark Centre for Technological Education
 Sounds Like Science
 20,000


 Royal Observatory Edinburgh
 Deep Space
 30,000


 Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
 Wild Science at Kelvingrove
 24,240


 Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
 Homes for Scotlands Wildlife
 8,000


 Science Made Simple Ltd
 Visualise -The Beauty of Science
 21,855


 Scottish Association for Marine Science
 Towards a Marine Science Festival
 5,000


 Shetland Science and Technology Group
 Shetland Science Workshops 
 12,500


 Techfest -SetPoint
 STEM Out & About in the Community
 5,050


 Techfest -SetPoint
 Techfest in September
 25,000


 Techfest -SetPoint
 STEM Outreach Programme
 4,800


 University of Aberdeen
 Aberdeen Science Engagement Plan
 19,000


 University of Dundee
 University/Science Centre networked Public Engagement Events
 30,000


 University of Edinburgh 
 Gene Jury
 25,037


 University of Edinburgh - School of Chemistry
 Making the Chemical Connection
 8,396


 University of Glasgow
 Café Scientifique
 2,320


 University of Glasgow
 Opening Doors to 21st Century Science and Engineering
 10,000


 University of Strathclyde
 The Angina Monologues
 20,000

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is obliged under its statutory duties, or in guidance issued to it, to have regard to the economic interests of developers in making statutory determinations, beyond any general encouragement or guidance to act efficiently and expeditiously in conducting its affairs and dealing with planning applications.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Environment Protection Agency is under any statutory duty to give weight to the economic interests of developers in undertaking its statutory duties, beyond any general encouragement or guidance to act efficiently and as expeditiously as possible in conducting its affairs and dealing with planning applications.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has any statutory duties to promote economic development.

Michael Russell: SEPA has a general duty under section 32 of the Environment Act 1995 to have regard to the economic needs of any area when formulating proposals relating to any of the agency’s statutory functions. SEPA is also required to adhere to statutory guidance on Sustainable Development which requires the agency to ensure its actions do not unnecessarily constrain economic development, and to enforce high environmental standards whilst having regard to economic considerations.

  When responding to planning consultations, SEPA takes into account sustainable development considerations including, if relevant, the financial and employment imperatives involved. The statutory guidance on Sustainable Development also makes clear that SEPA’s involvement in development planning is crucial in helping planning authorities to protect communities from inappropriate development and degradation of their local environment.

  SEPA, like other public bodies, needs to be aligned with, and prioritise, the strategic objectives of the Scottish Government which include "Wealthier" as well as "Safer" and "Greener".

  Any question about how SEPA carried out its functions in relation to an individual case should be directed to its chief executive.

Teachers

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many times ministers have met COSLA to discuss teacher numbers since June 2007.

Maureen Watt: Ministers meet COSLA regularly to discuss a number of issues.

Teachers

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress ministers have made in ensuring that this year’s newly qualified teachers are not lost to the profession.

Maureen Watt: All student teachers in publicly funded places are guaranteed a one-year teaching post on the teacher induction scheme. This affords them the opportunity to reach full registration in one school year. We have also signed a concordat with local government that enables them to maintain teacher numbers at a time of falling school rolls and significant levels of retirement.

Teachers

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers are taking steps to ensure that there are sufficient teaching posts to meet the increased numbers of newly qualified teachers.

Maureen Watt: The employment of teachers is a matter for local authorities as employers. All student teachers in publicly funded places are guaranteed a one-year teaching post on the teacher induction scheme. This affords them the opportunity to reach full registration in one school year. We have also signed a concordat with local government that enables them to maintain teacher numbers at a time of falling school rolls and significant levels of retirement.

Young Offenders

David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff have been injured in incidents involving inmates at St Mary’s Kenmure, Bishopbriggs, in the last year.

Fergus Ewing: This is an operational matter for St Mary’s Kenmure secure unit. The Scottish Government does not collect this information.

Young Offenders

David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many inmates have escaped from St Mary's Kenmure, Bishopbriggs, since it opened.

Fergus Ewing: Security in relation to children resident in secure care is a matter for secure units and those who place children and young people in their care. This includes local authorities, who place young people on remand or through the Children’s Hearings system and Scottish ministers who place children and young people sentenced to detention under sections 205(2) and 208 of Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. Scottish Government holds information in relation to the sentenced young people it places and can report that since St Mary’s opened in 2000, one sentenced young person has absconded. In the light of that incident, we are currently seeking assurance on the management of sentenced young people by St Mary’s.

Young Offenders

David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents there have been at St Mary’s Kenmure, Bishopbriggs, in the past year in which (a) restraint was used, (b) damage to property was caused and (c) the police was called to assist.

Fergus Ewing: These are matters for St Mary’s Kenmure secure unit and, where restraint is concerned, the Care Commission. The Scottish Government does not collect this information.

Young Offenders

David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of the cost of damage and repairs to the fabric of St Mary’s Kenmure, Bishopbriggs, due to vandalism caused by inmates in the last year.

Fergus Ewing: This is an operational matter for St Mary’s Kenmure secure unit. Scottish Government does not collect this information.